"The short film Endless Sea deserved the choice of this jury. The film reveals the painful and raw reality of people living without a social protection system and demonstrates the results of depriving them of access to health. Taking into account the condition of women and the vulnerabilities associated with identity characteristics, it is a powerful, frenetic but real portrait of the challenges of ageing and loneliness in various societies around the world."

"The Best Film Award in the International Competition goes to the film that moves, from the first scene, with its urgency to tell a story that exceeds personal experience and speaks to universal themes of attachment to life and to one another. With its subtle touch of hybridity, the film is made with directorial perfection, precise imagery, and performances that subtly describe a supremely sorrowful plot. It proves cinema's ability to work in an almost therapeutic way and elevate a private story to universal resonance. The Best film is SAFE PLACE by Juraj Lerotic."

"A great film is the result of the artistic contributions of many of its makers: The actors who embody the rich and complex inner lives of their characters, a cinematographer and editor who give a form to the world of the story, and a writer and director at an absolute level of narrative mastery. Epic in scale, and with the ironic wit of a 19th century novel, this is a film about the human tragicomedy that never loses its compassion for the many characters whose individual stories it weaves together in a seamless whole. The jury unanimously gives the award for the Best Portuguese Feature Film to: Mal viver / Viver mal."

"A disturbing and poetic film with great cinematography and an awe-inspiring sound design. This terrifying tale left us uncertain whether we were dreaming or dead."

"Even Hell has Its Heroes by director Clyde Petersen is an impressive work, given its ambitious mission: to portray the mysterious music of the Earths by bringing together, on a journey, those who contributed to it. A poetic and, as it should be, humanised portrait of a work driven by introspection, experimentation and contemplation. In it we are (always) carried away by the guitars, in the presence of the landscapes of a strange and familiar America. As fascinating and distant as the work of Earth that this beautiful documentary has so well unveiled to us."

"Saint Omer is an unforgettable film. As dense as tense in its tonality the unspeakable is being voiced. the gravity of its story and its actress teaches us on an existential level what it means to be lost yet highly intelligent and aware whilst facing the theater of trial and ethics of so perceived justice."

"For effectively highlighting the relation between public and private realm in the retelling of our history, covering a large and complicated chronicle with simple narration and means, and shedding light on important questions for our time of social media and digitisation. Consistent with its theme, made public in its entirety online."

"Reaching a final decision was not at all easy. The six candidates in the National Competition offered us not only the possibility to enter the wonderfulness of their imaginary with originality, but also the most refreshing guarantee for three young people that want to work with moving pictures in their country - Portuguese Cinema is alive and imposing itself with a lot of strength. As in all big decisions and indecisions of life, we let our heart be the final judge in the run this beautiful last week has been. We let it navigate us to "Índia" by Telmo Churro, which took us by surprise on its premiere and conquered, this way, a unanimous vote. In a mixture between meticulousness and boldness, "Índia" explores the following triple bond of ideas: the exteriorization of the spirit in Lisbon and the interiorization of Lisbon in the spirit; the marriage and divorce between the past and the future; us and others and what happens in between. The script is, in fact, this vigorous body that guides us either to laughter or to tears, without ever insisting too much on its ability to do so. After all, tragedies can also be somewhat ridiculous. And there is a certain tragedy in ridiculousness. In the end, the film is a very familiar and close perspective to nowadays Lisbon. This colorful city, with half-eaten grilled fish in neighborhood's cafes, Portuguese people and very badly spoken French, lovers and widowers of many loves. With homes and arms, more or less quiet, to come back to. All this realism only achieved by the fantastic is always present throughout the story. Our congratulations to the director and the entire crew!"

'The special mention in the International Competition goes to the film, which with its commitment to stories of women and their everyday lives, puts us directly into a unique contemporary struggle of mothers during the liminal times of a social drama. In a wildly conceptual way, the film confronts us with the complexities of being a female subject in times of radical right populism. It shows us that another form of resistance is possible. Rough Red by Amanda Devulsky.'

"About Miúcha, I can say that I personally watched, during a stay in Rio, the film of a famous concert in Italy in '78. Accompanied by Tom Jobim, Vinicius and Toquinho, she sings their songs and those of her brother Chico Buarque... she sings with a giant smile which characterizes her and the chemistry between them is notorious and effervescent. As she says in the documentary, she had very close and intense relationships with the great names of bossa nova; she "drank from the fountain." In this film we get to know her journey in a very intimate way, narrated in the first person, through a rich documentation of audio, films, photographs, letters, watercolours in animated forms... We witness a "darker" and real side of a marriage with João Gilberto that caused great hindrances to her artistic career - and how she later freed herself. Cosmopolitan and with a voice that stands apart from the classic bossa nova standard, we thus celebrate the life of this singer who stepped out of the shadow of a giant and into one of them."

"The Elephant 6 Recording Co. by C.B. Stockfleth is a film about a community. A community of eccentric music lovers who made music among other arts. But, honour the story told, mostly happy, sweet, escapist, colourful, experimental pop music. The names of the protagonists - because there are several of them - have marked the gestalt of pop and rock in the United States and between Ruston, Louisiana and Athens, Georgia, they have forged a fable that has bits of utopia. From The Apples in Stereo to Elf Power to Neutral Milk Hotel, they demonstrated that popular music can be illuminated by the melody of friendship and the electrifying rhythm of enthusiasm. It is this achievement that C.B. Stockfleth's The Elephant 6 Recording Co. remembers and cherishes so well, in a dream America we still dream of."

"Trenque Lauquen is a marvelous tribute to a place, to fiction. playful juxtapositions and entanglements within the story of an incredibly committed protagonist passionately invested in orchids, obsessive relations, and unknown creatures whilst looking for life in a place 445km far from the capital. beautifully photographed precisely choreographed, subtle elliptical movements negating linearities in time create a most pleasurable experience of suspense."

"Faithful to its topic and made in the spirit of three mystic icons of the 20th century, this film shows great insight into and respect for its subjects. With remarkable technical skill with the celluloid material and ingenuity to its approach, the director manages to skillfully tie together the past and future through legends and documentations. The result is both entertaining and terrifying, championing both humor and horror."

"The prize goes to a film that lets historical, political, and mythical material flow together, without ever being attached to a precise meaning, cementing the narrative only in the fascinating power of pure aesthetics. Between documentary and mythological tale, The Dam, by Ali Cherri, imposes itself thanks to its visual magnificence and graphic splendor, with a languid rhythm, an almost absence of dialogues and a central metaphor that remains enigmatic until the end, as a poetic and hypnotic object, of magical transcendence, made of stone and mud, light and water."

"We also want to make an honorable mention to "Mal Viver / Viver Mal". With its stunningly intimate photography, acting that brings the emotion of this difficulty of living together into the picture, and a screenplay that explores these "motherhood" relationships between women, like we have never seen before with such a sharp humor and sentiment. Our best wishes and congratulations to the film crew and a special one to João Canijo, to whom our words do no justice."